


Under Lock and Quarantine

by calamitysam687



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: AU, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, Love/Hate Relationship, M/M, Quarantine, disease outbreak AU, mentioned Finn/Poe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-21
Updated: 2020-03-30
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:40:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 16,849
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23241118
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/calamitysam687/pseuds/calamitysam687
Summary: Rey does her best to look at the bright side of life, but she just cannot get around how much she hates her roommate's best friend, Ben Solo. So when he comes to visit, she can't help but count the minutes until he gets back on a plane and goes away forever. Unfortunately, the universe has other plans in mind. Because what better way to keep Ben Solo around to ruin her life than starting a full-blown pandemic and keeping everyone under quarantine?Or, the one where I'm bored under quarantine and can't help but let my imagination wander. A not-coronavirus outbreak AU very much inspired by me staring at my four walls while I wait for real-life coronavirus to go away.
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 44
Kudos: 131





	1. Day 0

**Author's Note:**

> Hello all! Welcome to my very first Star Wars fic! Have I spent most of these wild times reading other reylo fics to keep my serotonin levels up? Yes, yes I have. So much so that I was inspired to write my very own! Please don't mind me as I explore how Rey and Ben would handle being trapped under one roof, and I hope you enjoy!

Rey didn’t hate a lot of things. She tried really, really hard to see the good in everyone and everything around her. Yes, her job could be stressful when the customers were rude to her- but it was always stressful when your car needed a repair, so that didn’t make her _hate_ it. And she couldn't _hate_ all the noisy traffic going by her apartment, because even though it oftentimes kept her tossing and turning, it reminded her that she was building a life for herself, away from her past. It was the little things, she always told herself, that could make anything a little less worthy of being hated.

This rule did not apply to her roommate’s best friend.

Poe Dameron was a lot of things- charismatic, charming, hilarious- but he was _not_ good at picking his friends. While his choosing to befriend Rey had been a good choice on his part, if she said so herself, he undid all of that good by being friends with Ben Solo. Rey couldn’t stand him. He was rude, he was brooding, and he knew a thousand and one ways to get under the skin of everyone he came into contact with. Everyone’s, Rey mused, except Poe’s. When they were together, the duo was thick as thieves, leaving Rey and Poe’s boyfriend Finn to feel a little left in the dust. And when Poe wasn’t around, well, Ben Solo was less than polite.

When Poe had told Rey that Ben would be flying in from New York for two weeks to stay with them, she was furious. Poe knew how much she hated Ben, so why did he offer to let him stay in their apartment? Why couldn’t he just go get a hotel room in the Loop and just meet up with Poe every day? Ben surely had enough cash, considering he was some kind of big-wig attorney in NYC. Despite her best efforts to dissuade him, Poe insisted that Ben would stay with them on the pull-out couch so that he could “maximize his quality time with his ‘brother from another mother.’”

Rey wanted to punch him, but figured she liked her apartment too much to get evicted.

So here she was, a month after that conversation, sitting in her living room relishing the last few minutes of silence she would have for the next two weeks. _The calm before the storm,_ she mused to herself. She flipped on the TV, hoping to find an episode of _Law and Order_ or _Friends_ to watch before she had to give up her couch to _him._ It had been a mistake to buy a pull-out, because a pull-out couch just invited you to invite unwelcome guests into your house. _Or invites you to be welcoming to your friends,_ she chided herself.

As she mindlessly flipped through the channels, she ended up on a national news station. She paused as she scanned the banner announcing what was being discussed by the anchor. _Unknown Virus Erupts Across Europe._ Rey dialed up the volume by a few points.

“What do we know so far, doctor?” The beautiful blonde anchorwoman directed her question to the older gentleman across from her at the desk.

“Well, it’s hard to say that we know anything at this point,” the man adjusted his glasses. “The reports we have received are limited and vary greatly. But from what we can gather, this virus is highly contagious. Fortunately, it doesn’t appear to be very lethal, but that data of course comes from only the most preliminary of reports.”

“You said this is highly contagious, should American’s be concerned that there will be an outbreak here in the States?” The anchorwoman frowned, her brow furrowing.

“I think it’s too soon to tell,” the doctor replied. “From what we have gathered, it seems that the worst of it is just like having a bad cold. Even if it did jump the pond, I doubt it would be anything to be worried about.” Just as the anchor was about to ask the doctor another question, Rey heard the jingle of keys being inserted into the lock of her apartment door. She sighed deeply before turning off the TV and putting the remote on the coffee table. She’d have to move that later so that the couch could be pulled out. _Ugh,_ was all that Rey could think to herself before sliding off the sofa to walk towards the front door. Just as she rounded the corner, the door burst open. Poe clambered into the apartment with a giant black suitcase in tow, struggling to keep the door open for the man behind him.

“Hiya, Rey!” Poe greeted excitedly. He brushed past her in order to get out of the doorway, setting the luggage down up against the hallway wall. “You remember my dear friend Ben?”

How could she forget him? He was over six feet of pure, unadulterated _hate._ He held himself rigid, bringing himself to his full, intimidating height. His long black hair was pushed back wildly from his face, exposing an unamused grimace. As he laid eyes on Rey, his dark eyes sharpened and gathered beneath knitted brows that matched a brand new scowl. It appeared that he remembered her quite well, too. The last time they had seen each other, it had been to have a screaming match in the foyer of a restaurant while Poe had gone to flag a cab.

“Oh, of course!” Rey feigned excitement, trying with all her might to focus on being a gracious hostess instead of telling him to get lost right there and then. “Here, _Ben,_ ” she subtly spat his name, “let me take that bag from you. I’ll put it in the living room. Oh, and feel free to hang your coat on the hook there.” She all but ripped the carry-on sized bag from his gloved fingers before turning on her heel and racing towards the living room. She set it with a loud thump on the floor, almost disappointed that it didn’t fall over. She then walked into the kitchen, where Poe and Ben had taken up residence after having shed their winter layers.

“And that’s when I said, ‘I’m Anakin Skywalker’s _grandson._ You have to be shitting yourself if you think I don’t know about something like that.’” Poe erupted into a fit of laughter, and Ben let out a noncommittal chuckle. Rey rolled her eyes, walking to the fridge to pour a glass of water from the filtered pitcher.

“Say, Rey,” Poe started after his laughter died down. “What do you know about _TIE_ brand sedans?”

“Enough to know how to fix one,” she chimed as she put the pitcher away again. “Why, are you in the market for one?”

“That’s funny,” Poe answered mockingly. “I wish I could afford something like that. No, Ben here says his at home has been giving him a lot of trouble.”

Rey really didn’t want to engage in a conversation directly about Ben, but she figured that talking about cars was pretty safe territory. She was a mechanic, after all. And a pretty good one at that, considering she had been able to start up her own shop from scratch after a few years of working her ass off to save enough for it. She could talk about cars all day. Fine, she’d take the bait. “Oh, what’s the issue?”

“It’s been making a strange noise,” Ben said, sounding uninterested.

“All the time?”

“No, only when it’s idling.”

“What does it sound like?” Rey asked, her mind racing through all the possible reasons such a car would be making a weird sound when it was idle.

“I’m not an impressionist, so don’t expect me to begin barking and singing until I get the sound right.” Ben’s uninterested face turned downward, his eyes hard and impatient as he growled out his sentence. Rey rolled her eyes. _Here we go again,_ she thought to herself. _Not even twenty minutes into this and he’s already being an ass._

“Well then I can’t help you, the sound is important. You should put all that damn money you have to use and take it to a mechanic so they can hear your bad attitude for themselves.” Rey made a motion to walk out of the kitchen back to her bedroom, her glass of water in tow.

“Some mechanic you must be if you can’t even handle offering ‘service with a smile,’” Ben mumbled under his breath. Poe inhaled and shot him a dirty look.

“Asshole,” Rey murmured to herself as she walked out of the kitchen and into her room. She slammed the door shut, set down her glass, and shoved headphones into her ears to take her mind off of the monster that was sitting in her kitchen and eating her food.

Yeah, this was going to be a _long_ two weeks.


	2. Day 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! I'm surprised I'm updating this quickly, but I guess that's what happens when you A) are quarantined and B) are procrastinating writing your college thesis. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this second chapter! Stay safe and healthy out there!

Rey’s phone had been pinging constantly with news notifications. It was honestly starting to get annoying, and she considered turning them off completely. But that probably wasn’t a good idea, considering everything that had been going on over the last week. It had started when there was the first confirmed case of this new virus, so far called EXGOL-2, in New Jersey. This caught the nation’s attention because it meant that this disease had managed to make it all the way across the Atlantic ocean via one very unfortunate traveler. Then, all of a sudden, cases were being reported all over the country and all over the world. It seemed like every ten minutes another place was being added to the list of effected areas. Rey listened to the news at night (before that _snake_ came back with Poe) as doctors, politicians and celebrities all ran circles around how many people were confirmed to be sick, and how many people had died all across Europe over the previous weeks. It didn't come as a surprise to her, later, when all international travel was banned.

Rey didn’t let the reports get to her, though. Life was business as usual, and her small little auto shop was thriving as more and more people ran into the troublesome potholes that made Chicago winters famous. She was grateful for the extra work, since it kept her out of the house and away from Ben. Even with Poe doing everything in his power to keep him busy and not in the living room, Rey had figured it was best to just avoid the house all together. But after such a long day of laying under yet another car for hours, she was excited to just hang around her bedroom and relax.

“Hey kiddo,” Poe excitedly greeted her in the hallway as she walked into the apartment. “Long day? I’m heading out for a few minutes to grab some things. See you in a bit!” Rey didn’t even have the chance to do more than make a friendly grunt before Poe had sped out the door. She shook her head to herself, only taking a second to wonder where he was going that had him all excited. She didn’t give it much thought, though; her mind was focused on locking herself away in her room. She paid no attention to the man sitting on her couch, shutting the door rapidly behind herself as she made it to her bedroom. Putting all the stress of her day to rest, she sat down at her small desk and booted up her computer. It was pretty old, but it could at least run her favorite guilty pleasure: _Stardew Valley._ There was just something about the farming simulation that calmed Rey, even if she would _never_ admit that it was one of her favorite games to her hardcore gamer online friends, like Rose.

Rey became so absorbed in her little farm that she didn’t realize hours had passed, and that her phone had been buzzing like crazy. Finally, a knock on her door broke her concentration.

“Yeah?” She called through the wall. The door creaked open in response, and she heard a throat clearing.

“Um, did you get Poe’s message?” Ben’s figure darkened her doorway, and Rey whipped around to look at him. His eyes raced around to cover every square inch of her room. “Nice decorating, I think I saw this room in some VSCO girl’s post the other day.”

Rey turned back to face her computer while rolling her eyes, straining to cling onto the sense of calm that she had had just moments before. “Whatever, at least I can make my own bed without one of my mommy’s maid’s help.” She heard Ben growl behind her, and she smirked to herself. “But no, I haven’t checked my phone, why?”

“He says he got tied up with something, and that we should do dinner ‘OYO.’”

“Did you really just say OYO out loud? Who’s the VSCO girl now?” Rey sniggered as she once again turned to look at Ben for his reaction. He was leaning against her door frame, his large arms crossed in front of him. His frown deepened significantly, and Rey’s pride soared.

“Says the girl who’s not using her green house to full effectiveness.” Rey’s brow furrowed in confusion. She followed his eyes back towards her desktop monitor, eventually connecting the dots as she saw her 8-bit character standing in the middle of her newly unlocked greenhouse. “You have the sprinklers placed wrong, and you should plant the trees around the perimeter so that you can maximize the crop output.”

“ _You_ ,” Rey began incredulously, “play _Stardew Valley_?”

Ben shrugged. “It’s relaxing; after a long day at the office I usually don’t want to jump into something like _Resident Evil_ or _Doom_.” Rey’s mouth must have still been resting on the floor, because he added, “Sue me for liking little indie games.”

“No, it’s just,” Rey recovered, “I guess I didn’t take you as a guy who was into videogames. But even then, I figured you’d play something dumb like _Fortnite._ ”

“Now that’s just insulting.” Ben’s frown lessened, and Rey could have sworn that he almost smiled a bit at her. But in a flash, it was gone. “Anyway, my hobbies aside, do you have any food here to eat?”

“Oh, right.” Rey blinked, her mind jumping around as she paused her game and then reached for her phone. She had several messages from Poe, the first saying something about running into Finn before his big business trip to California, and the last containing a couple of eggplant emojis. “Ew, does Poe send you this kind of stuff?” Rey meant it almost rhetorically, but Ben replied anyway.

“If you’re referring to the graphically detailed description of sex given exclusively through emojis, then yes. If not, I don’t want to know what he sends you.”

Rey couldn’t help herself, but she laughed. _Wow,_ she thought to herself, _didn’t know he could get me to do that._ “Yes, that is what I’m talking about. He obviously won’t be home for a while, and we don’t really have anything here. But I could order a pizza?”

“Here, I’ll order it. On me,” he pulled his phone out of his pocket and began to wander back out into the living room. Rey pushed her chair away from her desk and stood up, following him.

“Um, no, you’re my guest,” she insisted.

“And I’m the New York attorney that’s been bumming on your couch for a week. Now what do you want on it, and where am I ordering from?”

“Trick question,” she smiled. “There’s only one place we order from in this house. We want a large sausage deep dish from Lou Malnati’s.”

“Deep dish? That's a crime.” Ben wrinkled his nose, and Rey looked aghast.

“Have you even tried it?”

“Well, no, but, I mean-”

Rey cut him off. “Snobby New Yorkers, always thinking their ‘za is better than ours. Order it, try it, and then you can give me your TED talk on why greasy thin crust is better.” Ben rolled his eyes at her while he looked up the phone number on his phone. There was a beat of silence, but then Rey suddenly broke it.

“But, um, in the interim…”

Ben’s eyes shot up to meet hers, and Rey didn’t understand why she was suddenly being so shy. She blamed it on this being so weird, considering that ordinarily she did everything in her power to not even look at the man in front of her. Here she was, suddenly having a civil, almost _friendly,_ conversation with the “monster” that had been living under her roof for a week. Yeah, it was weird. But Rey also couldn’t help but shake the feeling that she had seen just a glimmer of something almost… hopeful in his eyes. Just for a second, gone the next, but there nonetheless. _No_ , she scolded herself, _you’re crazy. He’s literally only looking at you while you speak. Just be grateful that he’s not looking at you with contempt._

“Would you be willing to show me how to set up the green house?” Rey gushed out the words, letting her hands slide into the front pockets of her jeans.

“Sure thing, VSCO queen.” Ben mocked a salute at her while his other hand raised the phone to his ear. And while Rey once again rolled her eyes so hard that she almost saw her own brain, she didn’t feel the usual rise of anger in her chest.

He may be a monster, but at least he had a sense of humor.


	3. Day 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Howdy once again! I finished a whole chapter of my honors thesis, so I'm rewarding myself by posting another chapter of this fic in between my online lectures. Is it kind of weird to be writing about a disease outbreak while living in the middle of one? I think someone smarter than me would call it a coping mechanism... but who cares! I hope you guys enjoy these two idiots getting a little friendlier with each other, and be sure to stay healthy out there!

Rey was starting to get concerned now.

She really hadn’t given it much thought when international travel had been banned, but now her eyes were glued to the TV as the local news anchor explained that, in addition to there being the first EXGOL-2 death in Chicago, there was now a shortage on basic supplies. Something in her tumbled with unease. It had been a while since she had been in a situation where she didn’t have enough to eat or enough hygiene products, and she really didn’t want to revisit those memories. Eighteen years of that kind of living had been enough for a lifetime.

“Do you really think it’s that big of a deal?” Poe asked out loud, his feet up on the coffee table.

“How much toilet paper do you guys have left?” Ben asked in a half-serious, half-joking voice. Poe chuckled uneasily, and Rey glanced at Poe nervously.

“Not enough for you and your monster shits,” Poe shot at Ben, who frowned deeply and turned a little pink on the tips of his ears. “You’re lucky that poor Rey here moonlights as an expert plumber.”

“It’s not my fault that your sorry excuse for pizza didn’t agree with me,” Ben growled back, his hand gripping the arm of the chair he was sat in tightly.

“You know it wouldn’t have killed you to _mention_ that you’re lactose intolerant before we ordered some of Chicago’s finest cheesy goodness.” Rey chimed in, struggling to wrap her mind around what was happening. It was _bizarre,_ she thought, to be sitting in her living room having an amicable conversation in the presence of Ben Solo. Their impromptu pizza party had been unexpected, to say the least. A long-winded discussion about the best that the videogaming industry had to offer somehow shifted into a discussion of the pros and cons of their respective cities, resulting in Ben admitting that he secretly really wanted to have his picture taken at the top of the Sear’s Tower. Even though he would always maintain that the Empire State Building was much more scenic, he just wanted to experience the top-down view of a different city. The innocence of the explanation caught Rey off-guard. 

In actuality, the entire experience had left Rey in a bit of a daze. Just twenty-four hours before, she had absolutely detested the man who was staying on her pull-out couch. And now… their friendly conversation had left Rey feeling less angry towards Ben and more… neutral? Rey couldn’t really put a word to it. Yes, he was still rude and curt and liable to take things the wrong way or say something really offensive at the drop of a hat, but that seemed to have been happening less and less as they sort of got to know each other.

Of course, this awkward transition from enemies to acquaintances had been slightly expedited by Ben coming to her, plunger in hand, to request help in unclogging the toilet several hours after the pizza had been consumed. Rey laughed the whole time at Ben’s expense while she urgently repaired the apartment’s only bathroom. After that had happened, Ben had been a little more remiss about giving her a hard time.

The entire conversation about said awkward encounter was finished when Ben huffed angrily and turned his attention back to the TV, while Rey and Poe sniggered to themselves. The anchor continued to list all the products that had begun to fly off the shelves, and Rey readjusted in her seat on the couch anxiously as she listened once again. Her mind wandered to the shelves in her kitchen, and she subconsciously began to tally up all the cans she had there. If she cut her portions in half, and skipped breakfast like she used to do, there was enough food left to feed her and Poe for about a week and a half. Except she had to subtract whatever Ben would eat for the rest of his trip…

“That's it, c’mon Benjamin.” Poe leapt up from his seat, offering Ben his hand to help him up out of his own.

“Where are we going?” Ben asked as the smaller man tried to lift him out of his seat. He ended up getting up 95% of his own accord.

“To the store, dumbass.” Poe smirked as he walked into the hallway to fetch his coat and shoes. “I’m not going to let some preppers buy out all the booze and beef jerky. If the apocalypse is coming, I want to be able to party into the next life.” Ben began to follow Poe, leaving Rey to remain on the couch. She was only staring at the TV, her mind still doing all the math about how to make her food last.

“Hey, Poe. Uh, what about Rey?” Rey shook her head as she heard her name, and it took her brain a couple of seconds to process what Ben was saying. A confused “huh?” was all Poe could muster as he hopped on one foot back to the archway of the living room, the other preoccupied with having a shoe put on it. “I mean, can she tag along?”

Rey’s eyes widened, and she quickly turned around to look at the two men. It comforted her to see that Poe’s face was covered in the same amount of shock as hers certainly was. Ben was slightly hunched over, his hand scratching the back of his neck and displacing some of his long hair. All three just silently paused where they were, none of them really sure what to do with themselves. All were aware of how rocky (which was putting it nicely) Ben and Rey’s relationship (or lack thereof) had been in the past, so this was really out of character. After a few beats of silence, Poe’s face cracked into a huge smile. _Scratch that,_ Rey noted. _A shit-eating grin._

“Of course she can, buddy!” He finally pulled on his shoe and made short work of the other. “Why the hell wouldn’t I want to go on a pre-apocalypse supply run with my two best friends?”

Though she was confused about why he was smiling like that, Rey was at the very least grateful for Poe’s nonchalant nature, and for the fact that he refused to call attention to how weird this was. Just a little over a week ago, Rey would have told anyone and everyone how much she hated Ben, and she was sure he would’ve done the same. Now? Here he was, making sure she was included in their plans. Almost like he _wanted_ to spend time with her. _Amazing how powerful a few videogames can be in bringing people together,_ she commented to herself.

And just like that, the trio was all bundled up in their winter attire, and clambering into Poe’s car to drive to their local grocery store.

+++

The door to the apartment burst open as three obnoxiously laughing adults came tumbling in, multiple bags of groceries in hand. Rey was laughing so hard that she could hardly breathe, though she almost was brought out of it by the realization that Ben was laughing just as hard. It was the first time, really, that she had seen him truly smile.

“Please,” Rey gasped out between giggles, “tell me you’re joking!”

“No,” Poe choked out, “I’m really not. I walked right into the bathroom, opened up all the dispensers, and took every last roll of toilet paper they had in there.” Rey howled with laughter, having to sit down to take her shoes off so as to avoid falling over.

“Have you considered a career as a drug smuggler?” Ben wheezed out. “Because, I really think this would make your resumé quite impressive.” As he said this, Poe whipped out six whole rolls of toilet paper from underneath his jacket. How he managed to keep them from being visible from the outside, Rey would never be able to tell.

“I’m Harry fucking Toilet-Paper-ini.” Poe bowed, extending his arms with toilet paper rolls on each end as if he was accepting a standing ovation. “Thank you, thank you! I’ll be here all week, or for the rest of the EXGOL-2 outbreak.” Rey continued to laugh, and Ben slowly slid down the wall next to her, his shoulders shaking from the laughter. Rey’s breathing hitched as their shoulders rubbed together- how on earth did she get to the point of having friendly personal touch boundaries with Ben Solo?

“Alright, alright,” she coughed after a few more minutes of laughter, trying to clear her thoughts and her lungs of all the giggles. “Let’s put all this junk away before it starts to go bad.”

“I don’t think twinkies, beef jerky and vodka can go bad, Rey,” Ben mused, and Rey rolled her eyes.

“Well, if you want to eat rotten eggs and curdled milk, be my guest, Ben.” She used his name in return, and could have sworn that he shuddered when she did. _Probably just a chill,_ she reasoned, _we did just come in from the cold._

Standing up, she carried her bags into the kitchen while her two male companions followed suit. They continued to joke around and laugh while they put everything in the cabinets and fridge. By the time they were done and Rey decided to call it a night, her cheeks were hurting from smiling so much.

Call her a crazy person, but she had almost been enjoying having Ben around. Too bad he was scheduled to leave a few days later.


	4. Day 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! This chapter comes to you from the middle of a very boring, very long online lecture that I really just cannot be bothered to listen to anymore. I've been writing up a storm and I think I have a pretty good idea of where things are heading, so I went ahead and added a chapter count. Don't quote me on that though! Who knows where these wild kids will lead us? :) Enjoy the chapter!

The shouting that was coming from the kitchen did very little calm Rey down. No one had shown up to her shop that day, so she closed early and now was sitting in the arm chair of her living room, glancing over at a very stressed looking Ben. The TV showed the image of the White House briefing room, where the President had just announced that non-essential domestic travel should be stopped. The CDC had already announced that large gatherings should be canceled, and the mayor of Chicago was up next to announce that many businesses would need to be closed.

Ben sighed heavily, rubbing his face with his giant hand. He then rested his fist against the side of his head, leaning against the arm of the couch farthest from Rey. All she could hear was Poe yelling into the receiver of his cell phone at Finn, demanding he come home right then and there.

“I’m going to get this on my flight home tomorrow,” he started. “Or in the cab on my way back to my apartment. Or from my overly-nosy neighbor. I hear that the New York national guard is being called up.” He sighed again, his eyes flickering all over the screen of the TV.

“Well, at least you can work from home. I’m officially out of an income for however long this goes on,” she grumbled.

“Oh, you’re right, dying of a new plague is certainly better than having to live off of my savings for a few weeks.” His words were biting, and Rey sat up straighter in her seat.

“Not all of us are trust fund babies, dickhead.” All of the friendliness had evaporated between the two of them today. Old habits, Rey figured, died hard. All three adults had been on edge as they followed the news all day, which certainly didn't help them to maintain an appearance of friendliness. In the back of her head, Rey knew she was being rude to him, but her anger and anxiety overruled that train of thought; it was infuriating to hear him belittle her concerns. Ben took a deep breath like he was going to snap back at her, but then he paused before exhaling slowly.

“Look, I’m sorry.” Rey’s head was on a swivel as she turned to look at him, her eyes full of disbelief. Had he just said he was sorry? As she stared at him, she noticed that he was staring right back at her, searching for words. “I know that I’ve been a complete ass to you in the past, and-”

“That’s an understatement,” Rey interrupted quietly, underneath her breath.

“You’re not making this easier!” He finally snapped, his voice rising before settling back into a casual volume. “I’m sorry that I accused you of using Poe while we were at that restaurant when I was here last year. And I’m sorry for all the times I was rude to you after that. I just, ugh,” his hand shot up into his messy black waves. “I just have a hard time getting along with people, so I overcompensate. I’m a dick so that I don’t get the chance to screw it up. But this week I realized that you’re pretty okay and I want to bury the hatchet, okay?”

Rey’s eyes were now as wide as dinner plates. The silence between them would have made room for the sound of a pin dropping if it weren’t for Poe’s voice in the background. Was this really happening? Was _the_ Ben Solo really apologizing to her? And admitting that he had been awful to her? She was in shock, and his brown eyes burning a hole between her own wasn’t helping her to gather her thoughts. Before she fully processed things, her mouth began to move without her mind’s consent.

“Is this you asking if you can stay here?” she blurted out.

“ _What?_ ” Ben asked incredulously, his mouth hanging slightly open.

“I mean, um, fuck.” Rey slapped her hand over her forehead, shifting in her seat to turn more towards the man across from her as she crossed her legs and leaned against the arm of her chair. “Sorry, I just- wasn’t expecting that.” Now it was her turn to take a deep breath. “I’m, I’m sorry that I was a jerk to you too. I held a grudge. And I appreciate the apology. Can we start over?” She finally looked out from behind her hand, and smiled sheepishly at Ben.

“I’d like that,” he answered, his mouth shifting from a frown into a flat line that barely raised at the corners. “But if you make me do the whole ‘let’s reintroduce ourselves’ routine I will kick your ass.” Rey couldn’t help but chuckle at that, and after agreeing not to do that, the two fell into a peaceful silence as their attention returned to the TV.

A few minutes of yet another expert explaining just how contagious this new virus was, Rey broke the silence. “You know you can ask to stay here.”

“I don’t want to impose on you guys like that.”

“I really don’t think that asking to shelter in place during a national health crisis is _imposing_ ,” Rey emphasized the last word. “I’d call it more ‘ _being a victim of circumstance._ ’”

“No, really, I was kidding about getting it earlier. I mean, well, I was serious about the plane thing… but even if I got it on the plane, I’m young and healthy so I _probably_ won’t die…” he trailed off, sounding more and more unsure as his sentence went on.

“Ben,” she said his name almost like a command. Ben swallowed at that, staring at the girl across from him. “Stay. Poe will, of course, be okay with it. You don’t have to be a hero.”

“Are you absolutely sure?”

“Yes. I’ll tell Poe as soon as he’s off the-” Rey didn’t get a chance to finish her sentence, because Poe came practically running into the living room.

“I was just on the phone with Finn,” he started.

“We know,” Ben and Rey said in unison.

“Eavesdropping?” Poe raised an eyebrow at them. “You’d find some of our other conversations much more interesting to listen to.” Poe shook, ignoring Ben and Rey’s looks of disgust, as he returned to his original topic. “He’s stuck in California. His company canceled his flight home because of this mess and he’s stuck there. So I’m going to go get him before the government goes all ‘martial law’ on us and bans domestic travel.”

At this point, Poe basically jogged into his room to get his things before shouting through the open doorway, “I’ll be gone for at least five days, since it takes a while to get there and back. Is that okay with you, Rey?”

Ben shot a questioning glance towards Rey. It was one thing to have offered for him to stay while Poe would be around, but it was another to have him staying when it would just be him and her. They’d be trapped in this little apartment together, alone, for at least a business week, and their hatchet had been buried for less than twenty-five minutes. Was this really a good idea?

“Yeah, that’s totally fine,” Rey called back to Poe. She could hear things being thrown around, like he was desperately packing. “Also, just so you know, Ben’s cancelling his flight for tomorrow. He’s going to stay here until things calm down.”

The packing sounds stopped, and Poe appeared in the doorway. “I beg your pardon?” he asked, eyes wide and eyebrows approaching his hairline.

“Yeah, uh, Rey said it would be fine,” Ben piped up.

“Rey did?”

“Yeah…?” The question in Rey’s voice dripped all over her answer. Poe continued to stare at them with his eyebrows raised in shock, until a smirk finally sprung across his face.

“Well, okay then,” he said. “Make yourself at home, Ben. You can use my room while I’m gone. Your back will surely be glad to have a break from that rusty spring Rey calls a pull-out.” He returned to packing things up, clearly intending on leaving as soon as possible to go rescue his boyfriend.

“Poe, you’re not leaving in the middle of the night.” Rey shouted towards his room after a couple of seconds, sounding like an exasperated mother. “Wait until the morning.”

“But Rey,” Poe dragged out her name, just like a little kid who wanted to stay up late. “I have to go save my boyfriend!”

“Your boyfriend will survive one extra night in his all-expenses-paid luxury hotel room.” Ben chuckled, shaking his head at his friend’s antics. “You won’t do him any good if you crash your car in the dark.” The duo in the living room heard Poe sigh heavily before he marched out to join them, crashing next to Ben on the couch.

“Fine,” he gave in. “But can we at least put on a movie or something? This news is fucking depressing.”

Ben and Rey murmured in agreement, and spent the rest of the night making fun of Poe’s attempts at defending his favorite rom-com.


	5. Day 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Someone rescue me from this thesis... my final draft is due on Friday and I am only halfway done with the last chapter... thankfully, writing this little fic has been keeping me sane through it all, haha. Thanks for giving it a read, and I hope you enjoy this new chapter!

Poe left the next morning very early, hoping that he could make it at least to Oklahoma before the day was over. He planned on sleeping in his car to avoid the “germ-laden confines of some sleazy motel along the road,” and promised to text Ben and Rey whenever he stopped to assure them that he was alive. And with that, the front door closed, and Rey stood quietly in the hallway of her apartment next to the man who she, two weeks ago, hated more than anything in the world. The air seemed to shift as soon as the door had shut, Rey acutely aware of how silent the two were and that, really, she didn’t know what to say to him. Poe, she realized, had acted like their buffer for the last few days. Now, she would have to talk to him all on her own.

“You, um, want some breakfast?” She offered, turning to walk away from her spot in front of the door towards the kitchen.

“Sure,” he mumbled before following her into the kitchen.

They began to prepare the meal in silence, Rey spending the entire time desperately searching her mind for a conversation starter. While she hoped that she looked as though she just was focusing hard on whisking the eggs, she worried that Ben kept glancing at her because she instead was radiating awkwardness.

“Do you like being an attorney?” She blurted out, then berated herself for how stupid of a question it was. She might as well have asked him if he liked the weather, or if he enjoyed being so tall. It was such a boring, dead-end question, that would surely result in his giving an affirmative grunt and then leading them to fall into another uncomfortable silence…

“Yes and no,” he replied. “The money is good, and I love living and working in New York. But it’s super stressful. And my boss is a dick.” Ben shrugged his shoulders, absentmindedly flipping the bacon in the pan on the stove.

“Oh?” Rey was surprised at getting such a detailed answer from the traditionally monosyllabic man. “How so?”

“It’s… complicated.” Ben sounded defensive. “We haven’t exactly seen eye to eye on a lot of cases recently. I bet it must be really great being your own boss, though.”

Rey knew a deflection of a question when she saw one, so she let it go. “Sometimes. I mean I make my own hours and do what I love, but I’m also the only one who can do it. It’s more than just going out there and fixing up cars. It’s accounting and getting permits and making sure customers are happy, which can be a lot sometimes… Sorry, I’m rambling.”

“No, no, don’t worry about it,” Ben slid over, making room for Rey to place the new pan of scrambled eggs on the other burner. “It’s cool to hear more about you.”

Rey couldn’t help but smile to herself. “Same goes for you. I realize that I honestly don't know that much about you.” There was a beat of silence, filled only by the sound of bacon sizzling.

“Alright, what’s your favorite color?” He asked, almost playfully.

“Blue, you?”

“Black.”

“Wow, how emo.” Rey laughed. “Favorite band? If you say My Chemical Romance I reserve every right to laugh at you until you cry.”

“Ha-ha,” Ben rolled his eyes to emphasize his flat tone. “Very funny. It’s Muse.”

“Classic!” Rey glanced at Ben to see that he actually smiled at her response. “They’re one of my favorites, too. Though Coldplay will always have my heart.” Rey returned his smile.

“Who knew that we could share two whole interests?” He mocked her in a low tone.

“Pinch yourself, Solo,” she mocked back. “Favorite food?”

“Ice cream.”

“But you’re lactose intolerant.”

“That, I am afraid, is my curse to bear.” He mockingly rested the back of his hand against his forehead, as if he were a damsel in distress. The pair chuckled. “Yours?”

“Bacon that isn’t burnt to the point of being unrecognizable,” she used the spatula in her hand to point at the dangerously dark bacon.

“Oh, shit. Right, sorry.” The large man desperately fished the bacon out of the pan, placing it with the pieces that had already been cooked. Rey simultaneously removed the eggs from their pan, and the two sat down to eat together. The meal was spent in a comfortable silence, which concluded in Ben informing her that he would have to do some work remotely throughout the day. Rey didn’t mind, because she was content to enjoy the quarantine-induced day off in her room, reading and fidgeting with some of her gadgets. After cleaning up, the two parted ways to complete their respective tasks.

+++

Rey emerged later that afternoon from her bedroom to get something to eat, only to find Ben sitting on the floor in front of the couch, his legs underneath the coffee table and back resting against the seat behind him. His laptop open and displaying some kind of paperwork, the man’s forehead was resting on the table next to the device, his messy black waves splayed out in a chaotic pattern around his head.

“Need a break?” Rey called to him, shifting her weight to one leg and putting her hand on her hip. Ben’s head shot up as he whipped around to look at her.

“You have no idea how many documents go into a legal proceeding.” He groaned, sitting up straight and stretching his arms above his head. “I swear, at least two hundred trees die every time you get a parking ticket.”

Rey chuckled as she came and sat on the couch on the side next to where he was parked. “Well, I would offer that you should take a walk around the block or something, but that’s a pretty bad idea at a time like this… we could play a game?” Ben seemed to perk up.

“Such as?”

“Well, the only local co-op game I have on the PlayStation out here is _Rocket League_ …”

“Oh, prepare to be destroyed!” Ben turned and shot Rey a giant smirk before pulling himself up to sit next to her on the couch. Rey grabbed the controllers from their bin on the table and booted up the console.

“Prepare to be _so wrong,_ ” she snickered before starting the game up.

One game turned into two which turned into six which turned into… Rey honestly had no idea what number they were on. Ben Solo turned out to be a very competitive man. It surprised Rey that none of her neighbors had stopped by the complain about all the noise, seeing as every time he would win he would cheer and when he lost he would howl a great number of obscenities. It made Rey laugh, regardless of which response it was, and she figured that her neighbors had concluded that no amount of noise was worth potentially being exposed to EXGOL-2.

“You know,” Ben started, leaning forward and mashing buttons on the controller. “If I win this game, I’ll have won more games than you.”

“There is no WAY that’s true,” she shot back. “I’m way in the lead.”

“Well then, if you’re so confident, let’s make this one all or nothing!” His car raced forward to hit the ball towards the goal; fortunately for Rey, he missed. His growl filled the living room.

“You’re _so_ on!”

The two fell quiet as they focused intensely on winning the game. The sound of buttons being pressed with greater and greater force filled the silence between them, only to be interrupted by each of them earning a goal and cheering for themselves when it happened. The match went into sudden death; each leaned even farther forward as if that would get them closer to the action and to a win. Their cars raced around the arena, the ball flying as they consistently hit it. To Ben’s dismay, Rey suddenly found herself lined up for a perfect shot. Her car raced forward, and all she had to do was boost up into the air to meet it halfway and send it flying into Ben’s goal…

Just as she went to hit the right buttons, she felt Ben’s shoulder slam into hers, messing up her concentration.

“Hey!” She screamed, while Ben managed to recover the ball and make the victory score. “You dirty, cheating, scruffy-looking…” she searched for the right word, only to spit it when she found it, “scoundrel!”

“Scoundrel?” Ben repeated back to her, a huge grin across his face. “I won, fair and square. Not my fault that you can't handle the heat-” Rey then slammed her elbow into his ribcage, and the large man fell to get away from her, laughing. Rey couldn’t help but laugh too.

“I demand a rematch,” she argued.

“In your dreams, sweetheart.” Ben sat up to look at her, shaking his head to get his long hair out of his face. Something about the smirk he wore across his face made Rey suddenly and acutely aware of how close their bodies were- how long had their thighs been resting against each other? Ben must have noticed her looking at where their bodies met, because his eyes flickered down before he moved his leg away.

Rey cleared her throat. “Well, if not tonight, later then.”

“Alright, fine.” There then was an awkward pause, as Ben continued to smirk to himself as he moved his eyes up to catch Rey’s. She felt herself flush.

“Okay, well, um,” she stood up quickly. “I’d better be off to bed. It was a long day, having to get up to see Poe off and all.” Ben’s face faltered for a second, and Rey worried that he thought he’d done something to upset her. “But I’ll see you in the morning, and we can have our rematch, okay?”

“As you wish, princess.” He saluted her, and Rey half-heartedly rolled her eyes. She wished him goodnight, and after he did the same, she all but ran into her room and closed the door.

_What,_ she thought to herself, _the fuck was that?_ She shook her head, making her way to change into her pajamas. She had just been caught up in the adrenaline of the game, that was all. So she got a bit flustered- was that a crime? He had broken her attention after all, and had proven himself to be a cheater. It certainly didn’t help that she was probably already going stir crazy from being alone with him for so long. Poe’s return, surely, would restore balance to the universe.

In the morning, she would repress the pleasant feelings of a dream where someone brought butterflies to her stomach and called her sweetheart.


	6. Day 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I FINISHED MY THESIS!!! Well, I finished the draft. I still have to edit it for spelling and grammar, and make the presentation, and then I have to defend it next week... but let me have the little victory okay? In celebration, I may or may not have gone ahead and finished this fic. Which means that I now just have to decide how I want to go about uploading the rest of it- what do you guys think? All at once? Or do you like getting a chapter a day? Let me know! Anyway, thanks for giving me this creative outlet to keep me sane while I finish up this giant project, and I hope you enjoy the chapter!

“So, have you two decided to kill each other yet?” Poe’s voice chimed through the speaker of Rey’s phone as it rested next to her ear. It was a bit hard to hear Poe over the wind noise, but she knew that even if she asked him to roll up his car’s windows while he was on the phone, he would never do it. _The sweet breeze of the open road is a gift,_ he had once told her, _so get over it because I get fucking carsick without them open._

“Surprisingly, no. We actually spent a few hours playing _Rocket League_ the day before yesterday. It was a lot of fun. Otherwise, we’ve just been kind of hanging out when he’s not doing work.” Rey smiled softly to herself, though quickly stopped as her mind tried to drift towards the memory of him looking at her like that…

“Earth to Rey,” Poe made the sound of a radio crackling, “come in, Space Princess Rey. Do you read me?”

“Yeah, sorry, you must have cut out.”

“Mhmm, right…” Poe’s tone dripped with sarcasm.

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“What are you talking about?” Rey drew in a breath to continue questioning him, but Poe pressed on. “I’m glad you two are getting along well. I’m in Arizona now, and with any luck I’ll be in Los Angeles by tonight. I’ll text you once I’ve gotten to Finn’s hotel?”

Rey sighed. “Yes, please do.” A pause. “Poe, what aren’t you telling me?”

“About what? The automotive industry? Because I figured I’d spare you all the conspiracy theories that Finn has been telling me about the last couple of weeks. Like how car dealerships are all secretly breaking down your car every time you bring it in so that you buy another one sooner, and…”

“No,” she interrupted. “About Ben.”

“Who’s Ben?”

“Poe…” Rey drew out his name in exasperation.

“Oh, oh no, it seems like my,” he made radio crackling sounds again, “phone is,” more sounds, “losing service…”

“Poe!” Rey shouted into the phone.

“Bye, Rey! Stay healthy!” The line went dead, and Rey wanted to throw it out the window. Poe could be such a pain in the ass, she thought, but then again he was a loyal friend. If there was something she needed to know, he would have told her. Sighing deeply, she once again turned her attention to the old record player she was trying to repair. It was in bad shape, but she was determined to get it to work again.

After a few minutes, she heard Ben walk into the bathroom, followed by the sound of running water. Tuning it out, Rey gave it no thought as she continued to examine the wires and mechanisms that were holding her record player’s function hostage. Her attention was pulled from her work, however, as another sound began to drift through the wall between her bedroom and the bathroom…

_Holy shit,_ Rey called out in her mind. _He’s_ singing _in the shower._

Rey’s body went still, her eyes wide and her ears straining to hear it. He sang in such a low octave that the sound struggled to make it through the wall, but Rey wasn’t about to go be a _fucking creep_ and put her ear against the wall, now was she? Yet, as he continued, he seemed to get more and more confident because the words became clearer and clearer as time went on…

_Hold you in my arms,_

_I just wanted to hold you in my arms_

_Far away,_

_This ship has taken me far away_

_Far away from the memories_

_Of the people who care if I live or die_

Rey knew the lyrics to _Starlight_ quite well, and she had to give it to the man to have such fine taste in shower sing-along songs. She giggled as he filled in the guitar and piano parts when the lyrics dropped out, and found herself whispering the lyrics to herself as he continued to sing. He made it through a whole two songs before she finally heard the water stop, and she instantly shut herself up, sincerely hoping with all of her might that he hadn’t heard her singing along.

Shaking her head, Rey returned her focus to the record player gutted across her desk. This effectively ancient device should not have been giving her the trouble that it was. She just needed to figure out which wire was bad, it wasn’t rocket science…

The knock on the door spooked her, and she nearly ripped out the handful of wire that was resting in her hand.

“Hey, um, Rey,” Ben’s voice came through the wood of the door. “Where do you guys keep extra towels?” Rey blinked, and then stood up to go to the door.

“Oh here,” she called back as she crossed her room from the desk. “I’ll just go grab some for you.” Her hand landed on the doorknob and began to twist.

“No, it’s okay, I can just-” the door flew open, and Rey _instantly_ wanted the ground to swallow her. Ben stood there, pink from the tips of his ears all the way down his throat, in nothing but a low-hanging towel. _A fucking towel,_ Rey screamed in her head. _What did you expect? If he was asking for more towels, obviously he needed them for a reason, you absolute idiot!_

Ben cleared his throat as his hand instinctively grabbed at the edge of the towel and raised it higher. But the damage was done. Rey’s eyes had fallen down to where his hand had moved, and now they trailed up his chiseled chest back up to his very red face. Why had it never hit her before how big this man was? And why was she so shocked that he was so muscular? Her eyes betrayed her as they watched water drip from his sopping wet locks down to the curve of his collarbone, his freckled skin glistening beneath it. Her mouth went dry.

“Oh, I’m sorry!” She yelped, finally pulling her eyes from his chest to the floor. “Let me just go get those for you!” She all but ran into the kitchen, where the towels were hidden in the closet that concealed the in-unit washer/dryer. She grabbed a handful of them, taking no care to make sure they stayed folded, before watching her feet carry her into the living room again.

“Here you go!” Her voice cracked as she extended the towels to him. The towels were cautiously taken from her hands. Then she heard him chuckle to himself, awkwardly at first before becoming more confident.

“It’s okay if you like what you see, princess.” Rey’s eyes grew to the size of dinner plates as they shot from the floor up to his face. There it was again, that smirk across his features that made her want to both rip her hair out and melt into a puddle.

“You, you,” she stuttered, completely taken aback and totally frazzled. “you pompous, self-conceited, narcissistic,” she paused, searching for the right word, “snake!” She spat it at him, and his face suddenly completely fell.

“Whoa, whoa, hold on,” he stepped forward, blocking her path back into her bedroom. “I’m sorry, Rey, I didn’t mean anything by it-” His free hand instinctively shot out to comfort her, landing on her shoulder. She froze.

“I’m sorry,” he continued. “I told you, I say dumb shit when I get flustered. I’m sorry, okay?” Rey just stared up into his face, which now towered over her as he had stepped forward to talk to her. He blinked, hard, and took a big deep breath, as if he was waiting for her to explode.

“No, I’m sorry,” she sighed herself. “I turn vicious when I get surprised. I shouldn’t have said that, I’m sorry.” He looked at her, scanning her face, before a small smile came across his lips.

“What a duo we make, then.” He chuckled awkwardly, letting his hand fall back down to his side, but continuing to stand just as close to her.

“Yeah, really,” Rey let out a small laugh, smiling back at him in return. They continued to just stand there, and Rey’s eyes were tempted to fall from his deep brown ones to his lips, and then to his chest…

“I, uh, really should go get dressed.” He stepped back, and Rey was freed from her trance. She muttered in agreement, moving towards her room again. “Uh, thanks for the towels.” Ben turned around on his way back to the bathroom, waving the towels at her as a sign of gratitude.

“No worries,” she said, letting her bedroom door close. She continued to stand there, dumbstruck, as her brain caught up to everything that had just happened. Her feet carried her to her bed, where she fell face first into it, letting her small scream be absorbed by the mattress and comforter. _This isn’t happening,_ her mind tried to assure her. _You haven’t managed to go soft for him, have you? It’s been, what? Three days since you both agreed not to hate each other? Obviously this quarantine is going to your head._

_Yeah,_ the devil’s advocate in the back of her mind started, _or maybe it’s because he’s actually a giant, sexy-as-fuck, endearing dork when you get to know him._

_True,_ the other voice said. _Wait, no! He’s a jerk! All of that stuff he said, that was-_

_He apologized for that,_ the other voice warned.

_Okay, yeah, but he also cheated during that game!_ The first voice yelled.

_What are we, six? It’s a_ videogame. _And did you see that smirk afterwards? It goes so well with those honey-brown eyes of his, and his perfectly freckled skin …_

Okay, that was enough. Rey rolled over, pulling a pillow over her face in an attempt to smother herself. When it didn’t work, she groaned. These had already been the longest three days of her life, and her time trapped alone with Ben Solo was only halfway over. Was she really about to complicate everything by catching feelings for him when they literally had nowhere to go to get away from each other? _Apparently,_ both voices said simultaneously, _yes._

This quarantine was going to be the death of her.


	7. Day 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! So I still can't make up my mind about how to upload the rest of this fic, so for now here's the next chapter. I'm pretty certain that I'll upload the next two chapters together, though, so stay tuned for that! I hope all of you are hanging in there and staying healthy so far. Enjoy!

The next day was spent the same way the previous three had gone. Rey puttered around the house, going back and forth between cleaning, gaming, and reading while Ben worked on his laptop. They shared their meals together, their conversations growing more and diverse in topics and containing a steadily increasing amount of laughter. Rey appreciated the distraction from constantly thinking about the slowly dwindling food in the cabinet- he ate a lot more than she had anticipated. The city had declared that anyone being seen outside would be heavily fined, unless they could prove that they were going for food or medicine. She really hoped that all of this pandemic-business would be over soon so that food wouldn’t be of any concern.

It was about five o’clock, and Rey heard Ben’s laptop slam closed from where she sat on her bed, reading. She had left the door open all day, and she ignored all the voices whispering behind her back about her desire for him to just walk through the door and hang out with her all day instead. _Pricks,_ she called them, even if she knew deep down they were right.

She looked up to see Ben leaning against her doorframe again, his knuckles rasping against it as he asked, “how are you not bored out of your mind?”

“Well, for starters,” she closed her book and sat up slightly, resting her back against her headboard while she sat crisscross. “I don’t spend all day being a lawyer.” Ben scoffed, and Rey watched as he walked into the room to sit in her desk chair. “Rude, who invited you in here?”

“I’m your honorary roommate, so _su casa es mi casa._ ” He sat down defiantly, smirking at her in the way that made her stomach do involuntary summersaults. She grabbed a throw pillow off of her bed and chucked it at him.

“I’m starting to miss Mr. I-Don’t-Want-To-Impose,” she giggled as the pillow smacked across his face, his ebony hair flying everywhere.

“Too bad!” He grabbed the pillow and half-heartedly threw it back at Rey, who caught it. “We should do something fun. It is Friday night, after all.”

“Is it actually?” The days had begun to blend together for Rey, and she had genuinely forgotten what day it was. “Oh, I guess it is. Well, what did you have in mind?”

“You could give me a dramatic reading of,” he paused, and turned his head in an attempt to read the spine of the book she had left to lay next to her on the mattress. “ _2001: A Space Odyssey?_ Really?”

“What?”

“I don’t know, I figured you’d be reading some YA romance or something.”

“How dare you,” she put a hand across her chest and gasped, feigning insult. “Though there’s nothing wrong with those books.”

Ben laughed, a deep rumble coming out of his chest. “I knew I had you pegged.” Rey glared at him, and he laughed even harder. “Alright, alright, we’ll skip the reading.”

“What else did you have in mind?” She shifted to throw her legs over the side of the bed, facing him and her desk that was stationed on the wall opposite the door.

“We could just watch a movie and get shit-faced?” He grinned at her, and Rey’s mind broke out into civil war.

_You know that’s a horrible idea!_ One side screamed. _Who_ knows _what you’ll do or say! Or even what he’d do! You barely know him!_

The other side of her brain countered, _Or, here’s an idea: exercise self-control and_ don’t _get shit-faced. Let him have his fun. And don't you dare tell me that you wouldn’t like to see just exactly what he might do…_

“You good, princess?” Ben’s voice overpowered the battle in her brain, and his raised eyebrow made her flush. She _had_ to stop getting so far up her head’s ass like that.

“Yeah, sorry, my head is still in the book.” She made the lame excuse, making a note to punch herself in the face later. “Sure, that sounds like fun. What do you want to watch?”

There was a mix of cheering and booing in her head as she pulled the tequila out of the cabinet. All she could hope for in that moment was for the alcohol to shut those voices up for _one goddamn minute._

+++

Ben was splayed across the bottom of her bed, his head and feet hanging off of each side of the mattress. Rey laid next to him, her head on the opposite side of his, and her feet barely hanging over the other side. Man, he was tall… Why was she giggling so hard again?

“I was soooooo embarrassed when my mom told everyone that,” Ben was laughing, too. “I mean what kind of a mom gives a presentation to her son’s class and tells them that he was a _Trekkie?_ ” Rey’s stomach hurt from all the laughter. She didn’t know how long she laughed, but eventually her stomach stopped hurting as much, and she let her mind swim just like the room around her.

“I’m sure it didn’t really matterrrrr,” she slurred out, letting her arms fall over the edge of the bed to hang past her head.

“What didn’t matter?” He asked drowsily.

“Being a Trekkie, dummy.” She giggled for a beat, the room upside down and swaying back and forth across her vision. “I bet you still have a record-holding body count.”

“A what?”

“A body count!” she cried out, exasperated. “You knowww! How many partners you’ve had for the horizontal tango, spelunking, the old _Chitty Chitty Bang Bang,_ the-”

Ben interrupted her. “Alright, I get it, I get it!”

“Old man!” She laughed again. Why was he suddenly so funny?!

“And what exactly is _your_ body count then?” She could practically hear the smirk in his voice, and she stopped giggling. How many? Less than five, she knew that much immediately… it had been the guy in high school, the one when she first moved to Chicago, did the barista from the shop a couple blocks down count?

“Only three,” she decided to include him. Ben said nothing. “I knowwwwww, laugh it up….”

“What do you think mine is?” He asked after a beat of silence.

“Oh, I don't know…” she drawled. “Like ten? Fifteen?” More silence. “Oh my god, _twenty?_ ” Her arms finally returned to each side of her, heavy and fuzzy from being over her head for so long.

“Try zero,” he mumbled. Rey didn’t think she had heard him, her brain sluggishly processing everything that was happening. When it hit her that he had in fact said zero, she sat up. The room spun even faster, her head woozy from all the blood that had been rushing there. Ben’s head continued to hang off the side, and from her top-down perspective, Rey took in how his long, messy waves hung around his head while he stared at the upside-down wall across from him. _Boy, is he gorgeous…_

“No way,” she hit his arm where it rested next to his torso. “No _fucking_ way.”

“What?” he confusedly asked.

“There is no way in _hell,_ ” her tongue drew out the “L” sound for a little too long, “that a guy who looks as good as _you_ would never have gotten laid.” She watched the drunken flush creep from around his cheeks to his ears and down his neck as he sat up to look at her. His hair fell in crazy patterns around his face, and Rey’s mind was fascinated with how big he looked sitting in front of her. She flushed in return.

“I thought you said I was scruffy-looking?” There it was again, that smirk that made her mouth go dry. His eyes moved from hers, down to her lips, back to hers, his expression never changing.

“I, uh, I n-never…” she couldn’t compose a thought. Her mind was off on vacation, one where a very large, very beautiful, dark-featured man was whisking her away and doing unspeakable things to her. “Never said that,” she finally whispered.

“Oh, but you did,” his eyes dipped down again. _Stop doing that,_ she screamed internally. “The other day, you called me scruffy-looking.”

“I-” she was convinced she would never say anything without stuttering again. Was he leaning forward? Was she? Or was the room just shrinking? Her head was _swimming_. “I didn’t mean it.”

Ben’s smirk grew into smile. “Thanks for your honesty, sweetheart.” His hand moved up in front of her face, and his index finger tapped her nose. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

With that, he rolled off of her bed, stumbled to the door, and turned to close it. Adding insult to injury, he winked at a very dumbfounded, very drunk Rey before shutting the door behind him. Rey sat there in a daze for a while before she noticed that her jaw was hanging open. How long had that been happening?

She fell asleep in her clothes, never getting up from her bed, and reeling over what had just happened.


	8. Day 18, Part One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! I broke Day 18 into two parts, but I don't want to be evil so I'm uploading them both at the same time. Just a fair warning, this chapter and the next one will talk about Rey's past... so be wary if light mentions of abuse may impact you negatively. Sorry that this chapter is a little sad, but don't worry! There is hope on the horizon of a double upload! I hope you guys enjoy!

Rey’s head was _pounding._ She woke up and immediately threw her arm over her eyes, desperate to keep the intrusive rays of light from her retinas. Why had she had so much to drink the night before? She wanted to kill her past-self. But as she processed all of the drinks she had had, she also thought about who she had shared them with, and then eventually got to how the evening had ended…

_What the fuck was that all about?_ Rey couldn’t make any sense of it. The turmoil in her stomach grew more, well, tumultuous, as she thought about how he had looked at her, and how his voice had purred as he asked her to take back what she had said. Was he just messing with her? Or did he _want_ her to think he was attractive? She couldn't really believe that a guy who looked like him would have trouble believing he was good looking of all things. She really couldn’t figure out what he was trying to get at, so after a while she turned her attention back to herself.

There was truth to the old saying that drunk words are sober thoughts. Or, well, drunk thoughts are un-repressed sober thoughts. She couldn’t deny how badly she had wanted him to kiss her when he leaned forward to wish her goodnight… and no matter how badly she wanted to, she couldn't deny that she still felt the same way sober. Part of her wondered if she had felt that way all along; if she had only been so vicious towards him because she couldn’t handle her feelings for him. It sounded so silly, and she berated herself for acting like a six year old, but she couldn’t help but wonder if it was true. Even if it wasn’t, that still didn’t change the fact that she was trapped in a two-bedroom apartment with the highly-attractive man who she was developing feelings towards for the foreseeable future…

Her train of thought was broken by the smell of food wafting into her room. She got up to change out of the clothes she had been wearing the night before, made her way to freshen up in the bathroom, and then walked into the kitchen. Rey’s heart suddenly dropped- if she hadn’t known any better, she would’ve guessed that he had opened and eaten every item of food she had in the tiny kitchen. Cans were opened, a carton of eggs stood empty, and the gallon of milk was nearly gone. Ben sat at the kitchen table, shoveling even more food into his face.

“Morning, sunshine.” He quipped, his mouth full. “Or should I say, good afternoon.”

“What time is it?” She asked, still studying the chaos around her.

“It’s 1. Poe called, told me to tell you hi whenever you decided to get up.” Rey continued to stare around the room in silence. “You okay? Are you going to throw up?”

“What the fuck, Ben?” She felt herself growing pale, her fingers going numb as her whole body began to shake. All of her carefully calculated rations, reduced to at least half of its original stock. How was she going to eat now? No one would give her anymore food.

“Oh, I’m sorry about the mess. I just was kind of hungover and get super hungry when that happens. So I went a little wild, but I saved you some-”

“How the hell am I going to eat now?” Rey cried out, beginning to shake.

“What? Rey, there’s still plenty of food, and we can always get more.” Ben’s eyes searched her face, confusion marring his features.

“No! There’s never enough food, that was all I had! How could you do this to me?” Tears streamed down her face. She would never be able to feed herself for the rest of the month now. Her mind flashed with images of an old, dusty repair shop, and of grimy hands being raised against her.

“Rey, I really don’t understand what the big deal is,” Ben tried to reason with her.

“Of course you wouldn’t, you gluttonous pig!” Rey was shouting, the tears coming harder. “All of mommy’s money and your big-wig job. Not all of us get to eat until we’re stuffed, asshole.”

“Whoa, whoa, hold on now,” Ben’s voice raised. “What the hell does my mother have to do with this?”

“Some of us have to kill ourselves to eat! And put up with the unspeakable! You’d never know because you were born and raised on the silver spoon-”

“Are you calling me a lazy free-loader?” Ben now was shouting back, and stood up. “Because you have _no idea, princess._ If you knew the _hell_ I go through to have what I have, you’d never-” Ben had crossed the room, getting into Rey’s face as he continued to spit his words at her. Rey shrunk down, her hands instinctively moving up in front of her face.

“Leave me alone!” She screamed, backing away. Ben froze. “Don’t touch me, Plutt! Let me starve in peace!” Rey ran out of the kitchen, going to lock herself in her room. Ben didn’t even move a muscle, his face having gone suddenly blank. Rey’s back slid down the door, the sobs wracking her body.

+++

It was another thirty minutes before Rey was able to calm down her breathing again. Her hands were starting to regain feeling, the terrifying numbness of the panic attack slowly retreating. She wrapped her arms around herself after one hand wiped the tears off of her face. The silence of her mind was a welcome reprieve after the storm she had just endured, and she let her brain turn off for an indeterminant amount of time. She just _was_ , not taking in anything around her, and not thinking of what had just happened.

_Rey,_ a voice in her head called to her after a little while. _You’re safe._

She blinked a few times, finally beginning to take in her surroundings. Yes, she was in her room. She put her hands down, feeling the carpet underneath them. Alright, so she was sitting on the floor. She focused on the feeling of the material around her fingers, using it to ground herself. She was safe. Nothing bad had happened.

Slowly, ever so cautiously, her mind went back to piece together what had happened. She remembered the messy kitchen, the open cans, and Ben sitting at the table. Okay, then what? She remembered the cold-water sensation pouring over her, as if she had been completely doused. What next? She remembered yelling, and being so scared, and then someone rushing at her… Just like Plutt used to do. She had braced for the impact, and then had run.

_But that was Ben,_ her mind whispered. _Not Plutt._

She groaned. Something in her had just snapped, and she had fallen back into old habits. She hadn’t been that afraid in years, not since she had finally made it to Chicago to start over. Not since before she met Poe, or before she started her shop. It was something about feeling so powerless about the food, she recognized. The pang of cold, unmet need that had sent her over the edge. Then, when he had stepped towards her, she had just been waiting for the slap.

She took several more minutes to gather herself, before standing up and daring to open the door. The living room was empty, and there wasn't a sound coming from anywhere in the apartment. She looked into Poe’s room, only to find it dark and unoccupied. She looked in the bathroom, the front hallway- nothing. Finally she gingerly stepped into the kitchen, to see it meticulously straightened up, and empty.

Ben was gone.


	9. Day 18, Part Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part two of the double upload! Rey will explain herself in this one, so the warning about mentions of abuse still stands. But I promise it gets better in this one! Enjoy!

Rey spent the rest of her afternoon wearing down a path across the floor of the apartment. She paced back and forth, constantly trying to sort out where Ben could have gone. Could he have gotten arrested? The quarantine was in full swing, so he surely wasn’t just wandering around like a lost, sad puppy. Could he have found a hotel? All of his things were still in the apartment, so he meant to come back, right? Plus, all the hotels were closed unless you already had been staying there before the quarantine was imposed. So where the _hell_ could he have gone?

Rey had tried calling Poe, but had gotten no answer. No luck with Finn, either. She tried to just assume that they were driving like mad, enjoying the scenic route through… where were they supposed to be by now? Back in Oklahoma or something, she figured. But, no matter how hard she tried to avoid it, her overactive imagination kept trying to tell her that they had been in a horrific accident somewhere. First Ben, now them- _no, get ahold of yourself, Rey. They’re all fine._

As it got later and later, Rey had resigned herself to just laying on her bed, staring at her ceiling fan blades while she tried not to cry and scream all at once. She had said horrible things to Ben, and now he was out in the middle of the apocalypse because she had gone psycho on him over, what? A carton of eggs and some corned beef hash. Even if he did walk back into that apartment, now there was a chance that he would die of this mystery disease a few weeks later. All thanks to her big mouth. She shook her head, biting her lip to hold back the sobs.

Then she heard the door open and close. She couldn’t believe it, her heart skipping a beat. No, that was definitely the door. So either she was being robbed ( _which I deserve,_ she thought grimly) or Ben had come back. Not wasting another minute, she leapt off of her bed, ripped open the door, and made a beeline for the kitchen.

Ben stood hunched over the countertop, depositing several bags on the surface. His dark trench coat was still on him, though he had already kicked off his shoes to avoid tracking in any snow or dirt. He turned around at the sound of her gasping, pulling down a scarf that he had wrapped around his nose and mouth.

“Ben!” She exclaimed, not even thinking as she ran up to him and threw her arms around his torso. The larger man froze. “I’m so sorry, I was so worried. I thought I’d driven you off to your doom in the middle of the apocalypse! Where the fuck did you go?” She said all of it in one breath, only pulling away from the man when she finished. She looked up at him, only to see that his lips were drawn into a flat line. Her excitement waivered.

“I went to the store,” he said flatly. “It took a couple of stops, but I got all the replacements for what I ate this morning. Oh, and I also got this,” He grabbed one of the bags, pulling out a pizza box. “I guess Lou Malnati’s is considered enough of an ‘essential business’ that you can still order takeout.”

Rey’s eyes filled with tears. He was being so kind, after she had been so awful to him. “Ben…” she trailed off.

“Peace offering?” He offered, his eyes meeting hers and the corner of his lips turning upwards meekly.

“I’m the one who should be giving you a pizza,” Rey smiled shyly, chuckling just a little. Ben reached to his side, pulling down a couple of plates from a cabinet before opening the box. He went and put his coat and scarf in the hallway before each grabbed a slice, and silently sat down at the table. A few minutes of silence passed, before Ben broke it.

“Rey,” he started. “You don’t have to tell me, but I have to ask… who is Plutt?” Rey shivered, looking down at the tabletop. She had seen this coming, and she knew that Ben just wanted to understand.

“He was my boss,” she said, shakily. Ben set down his slice, resting his elbows on the table while his fists rested across the surface. “My parent’s left me when I was really little, and I grew up on the streets. I somehow managed to stay out of the system. I lived in Arizona, and Plutt ran a mechanic shop in the city I lived in.” She took a deep breath to steady herself.

“He saw me hanging around, and at first he threatened to call the cops on me. Then he got smart, and told me that if I came in and did work for him, he wouldn’t snitch on me. So I started off cleaning the place and fetching him his lunch… Eventually, he’d give me food and water as payment.” She saw his fists clench, his knuckles turning white. “I would keep everything he gave me in my little hole- I lived next to the canals, where all the water comes in to the desert- and tried to save up as much as I could. As I got older and bigger, he started to teach me to repair cars.”

“Rey, you don’t have to-” Ben tried to pause her, and she realized that tears were streaming down her cheeks once again.

“No, no, I want you to know.” She took another breath. “When I did a good job, he’d give me a couple of bucks, maybe a can of food or a water bottle. But when I didn’t do something right, well,” she trailed off, and judging by how Ben’s fists clenched impossibly tighter, she knew he got the memo.

“I’m so sorry, Rey.”

“It’s okay,” she whispered. It was awkward, accepting an apology from someone for something they had absolutely nothing to do with. “When I turned 18, I moved up here. Built my way up from working in random shops to owning my own, and that’s when I met Poe. I was living in a cheap motel, and he took pity on me and let me move in here, free of charge.”

“That’s why,” she continued, “I wasn’t paying him any rent when you first heard about me. I didn’t want to take advantage of his charity, so I worked and worked and started to pay him back. Then one day, the owner of one of the shops I had worked for called me up and offered me full ownership of her shop.”

“Her name was Maz, and she was too old to keep crawling under cars so she wanted to retire. She didn’t have any kids to gift the shop to, so she had thought of me and handed it over, no strings attached. She showed me the ropes, and then went off on her own retirement adventure.” Rey laughed meekly, despite the tears still drying on her cheeks. “That’s when I started to not just pay Poe back but also pay rent every month. And that’s about when I met you.”

Rey looked up at Ben’s face for the first time since she’d started her story. To her disbelief, he had a tear running down his own cheek, too. “Please don’t cry for me,” she told him. He blinked, hard. She stood up, and walked over to him, kneeling down to hug him where he sat. “If I had it to do all over again, I wouldn’t change a thing. Because if it were any different, I never would have found Finn, or Poe, or you.” She squeezed him tight. “I’m so sorry I went crazy on you.”

Ben’s arms finally left the tabletop, and he swung around to wrap them around her. She sank into his warmth, completely enveloped in him. She nuzzled her face into the crook of his neck, and she shivered when his hand rubbed soothing trails up and down her back. They stayed like that for a long time, before Ben finally let her go. He held her in front of him, leaning down so that their eyes were on the same level. Rey stared back into his eyes, trying to read everything he was trying to tell her with them.

“I never really talk about that,” she eventually told him, when she couldn't quite figure out what his eyes were saying. “I mean, Maz knew. And Poe knows of course, but that’s about it.”

“Thank you for telling me,” he whispered.

“Ben, I-” her mouth started moving without her permission, and she stopped herself short.

“You…?” He questioned. She looked down at the space in between them.

“I really like you. I mean, like, I trust you. That's why I'm telling you this. And I'm sorry, I shouldn’t have judged you so hard when we first met. But I hope that things can be different. I mean, ugh, I just-“ she felt her cheeks reddening, his breath tickling her nose from how close he was. Was she really doing this? Wasn’t this a little much for the moment they were having? _Shut up,_ Rey told the voices. _This is my moment, let me do with it as I please._

“Rey?” He asked, softly. “What are you trying to say?” Rey dared to look up at him through her lashes, only to find his eyes desperately trying to meet her own as his face paled. Almost as if he was in disbelief, almost like he didn’t believe that this could be going where it was going…

_Fuck it._

Rey leaned up and gingerly placed her lips on his, closing her eyes and relishing in the warmth. His lips were warm, but didn’t move. She panicked, worrying if she had misread everything, when suddenly his hands were back on her back, and his lips were pressing into hers with bruising force. She let her hands move up to the back of his neck, her fingers toying with his long waves. It felt so perfect, so _right,_ that she never wanted it to end.

Too soon, Ben pulled away, and gave Rey the biggest smile she had ever seen come across his face.

“You really couldn’t resist me, huh?” he smirked, that life-ruining smirk, and Rey playfully rolled her eyes. He chuckled.

“Really?” she grinned. Leave it to Ben Solo to turn a really grim, hard conversation into something that made her smile.

“I mean, who could blame you?” He leaned in once again, gently pressing his lips against hers, before moving to kiss her forehead. Rey’s stomach filled with butterflies at the loving gesture.

“I suppose I’ve always had a thing for scoundrels,” she countered, looking up at him with a smirk of her own. Finally, she made to stand up. “But we’d better eat this pizza before it gets cold,” she said, moving to walk away.

He grabbed her hand. “Actually, well, I don’t know if now is the right moment, or if I’ll do it right, but, uh,” Rey looked down at him where he was sitting, and she could practically hear his mind battling over whether or not to just go for it, or to back off of whatever he was going to say.

“Ben?” She stopped moving, raising an eyebrow at him.

“Ah, fuck it.” He stood up, and wrapped his arms around her waist before looking hungrily into her eyes. “I think there’s another, dairy-free option that I’d much rather be eating right now.” He winked, and it was over for her. She all but dragged him to her bedroom, slamming the door shut behind her.

Oh, how times had changed.


	10. Day 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hello everybody! I'm sorry that I didn't upload yesterday, but here I am today with the last two chapters! I hope you enjoy this fluff as much as I did when I wrote it!

“So this fool rolls up, his car practically out of gas, and demands that I get in the car right that instant to drive home,” Finn laughs, giving his boyfriend a mischievous glance. “I mean, he would’ve rather have slowed down to about 10 miles an hour and had me jump in the front seat.”

“That is not at all-” Poe tried to interrupt, but Finn pushed forward.

“So he gives me this giant speech about how the world was ending, and how if this was how we were all meant to go out, he wanted to at least be in his own home state with his beloved boyfriend when it happened.” Finn gestured vaguely into the air, symbolizing the general apocalypse around them.

“Which is a perfectly fine thing to want-”

“And then I just looked at him and said ‘jeez, Poe, can I at least zip up my suitcase first?’”

The group of adults collectively laughed, scattered around the living room. The couple had returned about a half an hour earlier, and couldn’t wait to sit down on the couch and tell everyone about their adventure across the quarantined country. The two previously-isolated adults hadn't even gotten a chance to tell them the news before being whisked into the living room to hear all about it. Not wanting to raise eyebrows, Ben had stationed himself in the armchair next to the couch where Poe and Finn were cuddled up. Rey sat crisscross on the floor, leaning against the TV stand, listening with delight as the giggles filled the room warmly.

“Alright, alright, laugh it up,” Poe said over everyone's laughter. “But remind me again how many guys out there can say that their boyfriend drove across the country to save them from EXGOL-2?”

“I suppose you’re right,” Finn admitted. “I am one lucky guy.” Finn leaned over, giving Poe a kiss that went on for a little too long. Rey and Ben collectively groaned.

“Get a room,” Rey chastised. Poe pulled away from Finn.

“You're just jealous,” Poe retorted.

“Really, I’m not.” She looked at Ben, who had to look away from flushing in response.

“Sounds fake,” Finn responded. Rey sighed.

“Trust me,” she stood up, her mind filled with a mischievous idea. Moving over to where Ben was stationed in the arm chair, she planted herself in his lap. He smiled at her, raising an eyebrow, but went along with it as she leaned in and kissed him. Her hands went up to hold each side of his face, and his hands rested on her lower back. When they broke apart, Rey turned to look back at the two dumbstruck men on the couch and added, “It’s not.”

“ _HOLY FUCKING SHIT!_ ” Poe screamed out, scaring Rey into pulling away from Ben and into turning in his lap to look at the yelling man. He had leapt out of his seat, one hand up in his hair, and the other pointing at the couple. “ _NO FUCKING WAY!”_

“Dude, no need to scream,” Ben calmly scolded him.

“Hey, congrats, guys,” Finn commended them, smiling widely at the couple.

“Thanks, Finn,” Rey chimed.

“No no no no no,” Poe rattled out at least 50 iterations of “no” before getting to his sentence. “This is not happening. _Benjamin Organa Solo,_ you did not finally make a move on her after all this time?”

“All this time?” Rey repeated incredulously.

“Poe-” Ben drew out his name, throwing his head back in embarrassment.

“Didn’t he tell you? About how he’s been basically in love with you since he first saw you last year? About how he compensated for his feelings by being mean to you all the time because he couldn’t figure out how to talk to you? Or about how he insisted on staying here instead of at a hotel because he wanted to have the chance to at least apologize to you?”

“That last part isn’t true,” Ben insisted. When Poe looked at him with a raised eyebrow, he backtracked. “Well, not _entirely_ true.”

“You really didn't know, Rey?” Finn asked as he saw the genuine confusion on her face.

“No, I really- I mean, now that I’m looking back on it, I suppose I can kind of see it…”

“You two really are meant for each other,” Poe teased. “You’re both such dorks that it’s painful.”

“Hey!” Ben and Rey shouted together, before pausing and then laughing in unison. “Alright,” Ben admitted. “You might have a point there.”

All four broke into giggles, with Poe sitting back down next to Finn and Rey remaining across Ben’s lap.

“I leave for five days, _five_ days, and I come back to my two best friends being in love with each other.” Poe obviously was still trying to wrap his mind around what was happening.

“You guys at least have to tell us how it happened,” Finn contended. Ben looked at Rey.

“It’s… kind of complicated,” she tried to make an excuse.

“Oh well now we _have_ to hear it,” Finn pressed. Poe’s eyes grew wide.

“Please tell me that this doesn't start or end in a really kinky way,” he feigned gagging. “Spare my innocent ears!”

“Says the man who has found a sexual use for nearly every emoji on the internet,” Ben countered. Poe tried to look hurt, but ended up only laughing as he admitted that he had a good point.

“Get on with it!” Finn eventually interjected. “I want to know!”

Ben and Rey took turns sharing their perspectives on each part of their five days together. Rey was fascinated by Ben’s take on things- like how he couldn’t believe that Rey was just as nerdy as him, and how mortified he was during the whole towel debacle. Poe got a real kick out of that part, and Rey threatened to destroy him if he spent too long thinking about her _boyfriend_ in a towel. Finn and Poe had laughed, leaving Rey as the only one who heard the approving growl come from Ben’s throat as she called him her boyfriend.

It killed her to hear him describe how upset it had made him to see her get so upset, but she appreciated him skimming over some of the details since he wasn’t sure how much Finn knew. Poe understood, though, and also helped to keep things away from Rey’s past in favor of focusing on her and Ben. In the end, Finn let out several “awww’s”, and Poe could do nothing but smile at the happy couple.

“Look at my little babies,” he moved to wipe away a tear, and leaned into Finn’s shoulder. Rey knew that he was trying to make it seem like he was pretending, but she knew that he really was using the opportunity to wipe away the tears from the corner of his eyes. “all grown up and falling in love together.”

“It wouldn’t have happened without you, man,” Ben smiled at Poe, his face beaming with gratitude.

“You should come and spend the week with me more often,” Finn joked, winking at his partner.

“And leave these two to get freaky in my apartment? No way man,” Poe paused and then scrunched up his nose in disgust. “Please tell me you two haven’t done it all over this place. _Oh god,_ you didn’t do it in my bed did you? I knew I shouldn’t have offered my room to you… _Wait,_ not the couch either right? Have you guys even done it yet?” Poe looked more and more disgusted with each scenario, and Rey and Ben both chuckled nervously. Rey felt the blush creeping across her face, unsure if she should confess to Poe just where and how they had been getting it on, or if she should try to keep a straight face and deny that she’d slept with Ben.

Ben looked at Rey and winked, squeezing her hand in his. Her heart skipped a beat. “Alright,” he said to Poe. “Now we’re done. Can we play scrabble now?”

Everyone laughed and then murmured in agreement. They all crowded around the coffee table, and the two couples began what would be the first of many, many evenings spent quarantined with board games, videogames, and their favorite people in the whole world.


	11. Day 183

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here's the end! Thank you all so much for reading this, it means so much. Who knew that my little daydream about Ben and Rey in quarantine would turn into 11 chapters? This fic was a great reprieve from all the quarantine and thesis stress, so thanks for giving me this outlet. I really hope you guys enjoyed. Until next time!

“Give me a smile, Ben!” Rey held her phone out in front of her, trying to get as much of the skyline around Ben as she could. Flashing a big, toothy smile, Ben looked like a kid in a candy shop. Behind him were the floor-to-ceiling windows of the Sear’s Tower (well, Willis Tower, but Rey refused to call it by its new name) sky deck level, the entirety of Chicago’s cityscape just beyond the glass. The afternoon sun shone brilliantly across the shore of Lake Michigan, but nothing shone as brightly as her boyfriend’s eyes.

“Alright, for this last one, give me _the_ look,” Rey chuckled, as Ben shifted his weight to one leg and crossed his arms in front of him. His happy smile transformed into his world-famous smirk. Well, maybe not world-famous, exactly, but to the girl who’s whole world was him, it was.

“Got it!” She chimed, prancing over to where her boyfriend stood. “I think they turned out really well.”

“I’m sure I look like a ten year old at a comic book convention,” he self-deprecated. Rey hit him on the arm.

“Nobody talks about _Ben Solo_ that way,” she playfully scolded. Just then, she looked up to see an elderly lady walking up to her, with a granddaughter in tow.

“Excuse me, young lady.” She addressed Rey, who wrapped her arm around Ben’s. “I couldn't help but notice you and your handsome friend here,” she nodded at Ben knowingly, “and was wondering if you’d like my granddaughter here to take your picture together? It’s such a beautiful day for the view today, so you really should capture this moment.”

The granddaughter looked mortified at how forward her grandmother was, but Rey beamed and said that they would love for that to happen. Handing the girl her phone, Rey lined Ben up with the windows, and leaned into his side. The two grinned from ear to ear for a few photos, before Rey turned on her tip-toes to kiss Ben. The grandmother cheered.

Thanking the girl and her grandmother, Rey took her phone back before walking around the sky deck with Ben. They marveled at the different angles of the city, and they laughed at how scared Ben was of the little room that stuck out of the side of the building with a glass floor. After walking around a few times, the two decided that lunch was in order. Jumping in a cab, the pair headed to Navy Pier to sit at their favorite restaurant, Riva’s.

“It’s crazy to think that less than six months ago, you and I were trapped in my little apartment, thinking the world was ending.” Rey looked out of the windows at the view of Lake Michigan, watching all the boats float by, before looking across the table to her boyfriend.

“I know, I really thought it was my last chance to shoot my shot,” he chuckled.

“Well, I’m glad I shot it for you, then,” she smiled at him mischievously, before looking down to re-adjust the napkin in her lap.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Ben suddenly asked after a beat of silence. “I mean, you really want to put up with me year-round?” His face was nervous, his mouth in the flat line that Rey knew meant that he was really chewing on something in his head.

“That’s such a silly question, Ben.” She locked eyes with him. “Of course I want that, but are you sure you want to move here? I know how much you love New York.”

“Nah,” he was quick to answer. “It’s not as charming as Chicago. Plus, I’ll be closer to Poe and Finn. And I get to tell Snoke to go piss up a rope.” The pair laughed at that; Rey knew just how badly Ben wanted to stick it to his boss. “Though, I have to say that the pizza will never compare.”

Rey rolled her eyes. “Oh, how will you and your lactose intolerance ever survive?” she giggled. “But all those other things are great points,” she said, her giggle dying down. “You’re absolutely sure though? I don’t want you to give your life up for me.” She looked down at the table, and then back up at the man across from her through her lashes. She was so deeply, insanely in love with the giant dork in front of her that she would do anything for him. She just wanted him to be happy, and she didn't want herself to get in the way of that.

“Rey, I’m not giving up my life.” He locked eyes with her and smiled. “I’m chasing after the life I want. My life with you.” Rey blushed. “I love you, Rey.”

When all was said and done, the EXGOL-2 outbreak was far less severe than anyone expected. Thanks to how quickly the nation was to quarantine, the disease didn’t spread nearly as quickly as anticipated, giving scientists the time they needed to develop a treatment plan. Soon after that, stores began to reopen, and it was only a matter of time before the vaccine was developed. In what felt like the blink of an eye, life was back to business as normal.

Except, thanks to the quarantine, Rey’s life was anything but business as normal. She was heartbroken when Ben was safe to return to New York City, but thankfully her sadness was short lived. He came out to visit one weekend a month, the two relishing every minute that they got to be together. Four months after quarantine brought Finn’s proposal to Poe, and Rey never quite grew tired of all of Poe’s excited wedding planning talk. It was a sweet moment, made even sweeter thanks to Ben’s being there with them all for the happy moment.

Though everything was so exciting and new, it was bittersweet to know that she would be moving out of the apartment she shared with Poe. So many memories there; she didn't want it to ever end. But Poe was getting married, and Ben was coming to live in Chicago. It was high time that they found their own place together, but Rey knew that both of them would forever be grateful to the four walls that had forced them together.

“I love you, too, Ben.” She smiled at him in return. He grinned from ear to ear, before launching into making fun of the restaurant’s menu design. Her heart swelled.

Such a dark time in history, yet from it had come so much good. It had been hard, yes. But Rey would never have had it any other way.


End file.
